79: Chapter Seventy-Nine: A Call from the Deep Mountains

Relying on the precise positioning provided by the system, I only need to identify the direction, swing my hoe or shovel, and dig hard.

Guo Jianjun—no, I should say all the other Gold Panning enthusiasts—didn't have it so easy.

When they discovered something underground, they could only rely on a metal detector to get a vague, rough range.

As for what the item underground was or how deep it was buried? Until it was dug out, they had no idea!

Watching Guo Jianjun stop after scraping away every thin layer of soil, then holding the metal detector to sweep back and forth over the freshly turned dirt, and only picking up his small hoe to continue digging after confirming the metal detector made no sound.

Compared to me, this kind of Gold Panning was truly suffering.

Seeing that he had barely dug anything after such a long time, Zheng Jing couldn't help but shake his head: "Brother Jun, I don't think this method of yours works!"

Guo Jianjun was stunned and looked up to ask: "Why not?"

Zheng Jing pointed to the small pile of loose soil beside him and said: "Doesn't it tire you out to have to sweep with the metal detector after every shovel?"

Guo Jianjun rolled his eyes at him: "Isn't that a stupid question? How could I not be tired?"

Zheng Jing laughed: "Then can't you just not sweep it constantly? It wastes so much time."

Before Guo Jianjun could speak, Boss Zhao, who was standing to the side, asked in confusion: "Isn't that how everyone sweeps? If you don't sweep like this, how do you know if you missed something?"

Seeing that they didn't understand what he meant, Zheng Jing said quite helplessly: "Digging once and sweeping once, how exhausting is that? Why can't you dig to a certain extent and then sweep?"

Boss Zhao and Guo Jianjun listened, looking completely bewildered.

But Zhao the Second's eyes lit up, and he slapped his forehead hard: "Damn, Jingzi is right."

Zhao the Second's reaction left Guo Jianjun and Boss Zhao even more confused.

Zheng Jing even started to doubt their intelligence a little.

But he still patiently explained, pointing at the dirt pit: "Brother Jun, Old Zhao, when we dig, we can dig about ten centimeters in one go and pile all the excavated dirt at the edge of the pit. After finishing this layer, take the metal detector and sweep the whole area. If it signals, we look for the goods right there; if there's no sound, we continue digging deeper."

"Right!" Zhao the Second agreed, nodding: "Doing it this way will be much more efficient than our original method of stopping to sweep the instrument after every hoe strike."

Hearing the two explain it like this, Guo Jianjun also realized it.

"You're right. With our original digging method, most of our time was wasted on repeatedly lifting the hoe and moving the instrument around. It's better to focus on digging the pit first and scan at the end."

Zheng Jing smiled and nodded: "Exactly. We aren't digging forty or fifty centimeters at once, so it's not like we'll only discover the item is in the top ten or twenty centimeters after we finish digging. By digging ten centimeters at a time, even if we dig a bit more, it's still much more time-saving and effortless than the original way!"

Boss Zhao also suddenly realized: "Oh, Jingzi, you're so smart. We were stuck in a rut before, always thinking it was safer to check after digging a little bit, but instead, we just wasted time and effort for nothing."

Guo Jianjun rubbed the metal detector in his hand and shook his head with a wry smile: "You can't purely call us stupid. We learned Gold Panning from the older generation, and we just did whatever they taught us. We figured they had years of experience so they couldn't be wrong, so we never thought about whether the method could be optimized to save effort."

"In the end, it just means our thinking was rigid and we couldn't adapt. Fortunately, Jingzi pointed it out today; our efficiency will definitely go up from now on."

Boss Zhao sighed with emotion: "I used to think Jingzi was just a rookie, but I didn't expect him to be so smart. It really proves the old master's saying: 'Among any three people, there must be one who is my teacher!'"

Guo Jianjun had an expression as if he had seen a ghost: "Boss Zhao, if you're going to get sentimental, just do it, but don't show off your literary knowledge, okay?"

Boss Zhao was stunned: "What's wrong? Did I use the wrong words?"

Guo Jianjun shook his head: "Not really, it's just that hearing those fancy, literary words coming out of your mouth feels very strange."

Boss Zhao kicked Guo Jianjun: "Get lost, you're always mocking your old man!"

"Hahaha, you big idiot."

Guo Jianjun didn't get angry; he rubbed his butt and continued digging using the method Zheng Jing taught him.

Sure enough, Guo Jianjun's efficiency in digging the pit was much higher now!

Ten minutes later, when the metal detector in Guo Jianjun's hand scanned the pile of dirt he had just brought out, it suddenly emitted a rapid beeping alarm.

"I dug it out!"

Guo Jianjun was delighted and immediately tossed the small hoe aside. He used the metal instrument to carefully check the entire bottom and walls of the pit, and upon confirming there were no other metal signals, he carefully dug away the sticky, wet yellow mud following the source of the signal.

Before long, under Guo Jianjun's digging, a silver chunk covered in mud slowly revealed itself.

It was quite large, probably about seventeen or eighteen grams. Even after smelting and refining, it could sell for at least three hundred yuan!

Seeing such a big find, Guo Jianjun was overjoyed: "Oh heavens, oh earth! I thought I was going to come up empty-handed this morning, but I didn't expect to dig up a big piece of silver right away!"

Everyone was very happy for him.

Boss Zhao snatched the silver chunk: "Not bad, Old Guo. This single piece of silver is enough to cover your wages for the day. If you dig up anything else this afternoon, that's pure profit!"

Guo Jianjun nodded: "Yeah, hahaha, awesome!"

The excavated silver chunk was passed around among the group.

"Brother Jun, you're something else! A great start!"

"Although it's not as big as the one Jingzi found, for such a big chunk of silver, your luck is definitely something to talk about!"

Guo Jianjun happily put the silver away: "I was the last person to shake hands with Jingzi this morning. This good luck stayed on my hand and didn't dissipate, which is naturally why I was the first to dig up such a good find."

As soon as these words were out, The Zhao Brothers immediately exclaimed that it made sense.

So they immediately gathered around, scrambling to grab Zheng Jing's hand to rub off some good luck.

Zheng Jing dodged them, laughing and crying at the same time: "I only dug up some silver scraps afterward, you guys aren't getting any luck from me."

Boss Zhao had a mischievous grin: "If you're willing to let us rub your butt, that's not impossible."

Zheng Jing paused for a moment, then immediately realized what he meant.

So he focused his energy in his dantian and roared with a full, resonant voice: "Get lost!"

While joking and playing around, Zheng Jing also pondered to himself: Perhaps because this vein of ore borders Boss Zhou's territory, everyone rarely comes here to wander around. So regardless of the gold he had secretly hidden before, or the silver chunk he and Guo Jianjun dug up later, the quality and size were much better than the materials dug up elsewhere in the past.

It seems this place is indeed a geomantic treasure trove!

Just as everyone was chatting, a sudden cell phone ringtone rang out.

Everyone was stunned in unison.

In these deep mountains and wild forests, there is basically no cell phone signal on normal days, so no one expected that a call could actually get through.

Just as everyone subconsciously reached into their pockets to pull out their phones, Zheng Jing immediately realized the ringtone was his.

He took out his phone and looked at it; an unfamiliar number popped up on the screen. He originally thought it was a scam call and didn't intend to answer, but the other party was very persistent. After he hung up once, they kept calling back, and the ringtone rang repeatedly without stopping.

Zheng Jing helplessly pressed the answer button: "Hello?"

Seeing that the call was connected, a crisp voice came from the other side: "Brother, are you busy?"

The voice seemed to carry a bit of hesitation, and also a hint of grievance.

Zheng Jing was stunned. Little sister? What does she want with him?